Bed

ABSTRACT

A bed for preventing bed sores and enabling a patient to be turned, in which net material is secured to two spaced apart substantially parallel bars. In one construction at least one bar can be raised and lowered to cause movement of the net material under the patient thereby causing a rolling motion. In another construction the bars are rotatable about their axis to wind the net material onto or off the bars so that when they are rotated in opposite directions the patient is either raised or lowered and when they are rotated in the same direction the patient is caused to roll or turn.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,924,281

Gibbs 5] Dec. 9, 1975 1 BED 3,108,290 10/1963 Partridge 5/88 3,252,1695/1966 Propst 5/8l R [76] Inventor Reyna" Stone Cross 3,401,410 9/1968Welborn et al. 5/61 liouserwadhurslisussexiEngland 3,673,620 7/1972Saunders 5/83 [22] Filed: Sept. 12, 1974 Primary Examiner-Casmir A.Nunberg [21] Appl. No.: 505,577

Attorney, Agent, or FirmFleit & Jacobson 30 Foreign Application PriorityData [571 ABSTRACT Man 131 1974 Unhed Kingdom 1 1223/74 A bed forpreventing bed sores and enabling a patient to be turned, in which netmaterial is secured to two [52] U.S. Cl..., 5/81 R; 5/61 spaced apartSubstantially Parallel bars- In one 51 1111. (:1. A6lG 7/10 Struction atleast one bar can be raised and lowered to 5 Field f Search N 5/61, 8183 84, 88 cause movement of the net material under the patient therebycausing a rolling motion. In another construc- 5 References Cied tionthe bars are rotatable about their axis to wind the UNITED STATESPATENTS net material onto or off the bars so that when they are rotatedin opposite directions the patient is either raised or lowered and whenthey are rotated in the M81150 3H924 Deakms 5/84 same direction theatient is caused to roll or turn 1,694,084 12/1928 Straight..... 5/87 p1,977,944 10/1934 Haskett 5/84 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 658,2179/1900 Mungu 5/88 US. Patent Dec. 9 1975 Sheet 1 of2 3,924,281

US. Patent Dec. 9 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,924,281

1 BED The present invention relates to beds.

People who have to stay in bed for a prolonged period either in hospitalor at home often suffer from bed sores as a result of lying in the sameposition for a prolonged period. The problem is particularly acute wherethe patient is unconscious or partly paralysed making it difficult forhim to move himself. The normal procedure in hospital is for the nursingstaff to turn the patient slightly, so that the weight of the patient iscarried by a different part of the body. If the patient is severelyincapacitated or particularly heavy this can be very hard work indeed,particularly as it needs to be done at frequent intervals, for exampleonce every two hours, if bed sores are to be prevented.

It is now proposed, according to the invention, to provide a bedcomprising a pair of elongate members, means for mounting said membersso that their axes are substantially parallel, a web extending betweensaid members and secured thereto and means for moving at least one ofsaid members so that the portion of the web adjacent thereto moves in aplane generally parallel to itself, to effect a rolling motion of apatient supported on said web.

The effect of causing the portion of the web adjacent to one of theelongate members moving parallel to itself is to cause a movement of theweb material immediately underneath the patient. It will be appreciatedthat the patient is lying in the web material in a manner similar to ahammock during this operation and that this causes a rolling or turningmovement of the patient. Thus, by applying a relatively small force tothe elongate member a patient can easily be turned.

The elongate member can be moved in a number of different ways.According to a first construction, the elongate member is lifted orlowered by any suitable means. This construction lends itself to selfoperation, since the lifting and lowering can be effected by winding acord attached to the elongate member around a shaft mounted on anarrangement over the bed. The rotation of the shaft can be effected in anumber of different ways. Thus, it can be effected by one or moreelectric motors, or it can be carried out by means of a hand lever whichcan be reciprocated back and forth in a form of pendulum motion to causea pawl carried thereby to rotate a ratchet wheel. In another arrangementthe rotation can be effected by a worm and pinion which itself is drivenby a cord, such as a bead cord, passing over a pulley carried on theworm shaft. As indicated, any of these means enable the patient tooperate the raising and lowering, and therefore the turning, himself.

In another arrangement according to the invention the web material ismade very wide and is wound up on the two elongate members. Means areprovided for rotating the two members about their own axes and forlocking them in a particular rotational position. Thus, if the twomembers are rotated in opposite directions the patient is either raisedor lowered and if the two members are rotated in the same direction thepatient is turned.

Preferably the web mate rial is in the form of a net, for example, anylon net. This has been found particularly advantageous for a number ofreasons. Firstly, net material is slightly resilient which givesconsiderable comfort to the patient and, secondly, when net material isused the patient can see through the net sideways, so

that he does not feel so enclosed. An underblanket and a sheet may beplaced over the central portion of the net and a pillow provided for thepatient to have greater comfort. The net may be secured to the elongatemembers, which may be simply poles or tubes, by any suitable means.Where the net is moved by raising and lowering of the elongate members,the latter can simply be threaded through side edge portions of the net.Where the net is wound up on the elongate members, however, it ispreferred to provide a line of pins on each elongate member over whichthe net material is hooked, and to hold it in place by a gutter shapedclamping bar which is held in place at each end by a hoop constructionon the elongate member. The gutter shaped clamping member is preferablyformed of a plastics material so that it is resilient and can be bowedto put it in place.

In order that the invention may more readily be understood, thefollowing description is given, merely by way of example, referencebeing made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of bed constructed inaccordance with the present inventlon;

FIGS. 2 and 3 both illustrate further arrangements for lifting andlowering the support bar;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of bed according tothe invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating a method of securingthe net material to the support bar of the construction of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a section taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a bed having four uprights10 each provided, as is conventional, with a wheel at the bottom, theseuprights being arranged in the manner of a four poster bed at the footand head of a bed and the uprights of a pair being spaced apart by crossmembers l1, l2 and 13 at each end. The longitudinal sides-of the bed aremade up by longitudinal bars 14 and 15 approximately at the height of anormal bed and at a height of about 2 and 6 feet respectively. Amattress (not shown) may be arranged between bars 14in which case bars12 and 14 would be at the same level. Extending approximately centrallyfrom between the two bars 15 are a pair of supports 16 and 17 whichcarry two motors 18 and 19 each having a shaft 20 around which is wounda cord 21 which passes around two pulleys 22 and 23 and to the ends ofwhich are secured an elongate'member 24, for example in the form of ametal tube. At each of its ends, the member 24 has a plastics material,e.g. nylon or polytetrafluoroethylene, guide member 25 which isvertically slidable on the adjacent upright 10. Extending between thetwo elongate members 24 is a web in the form of a nylon net material 26,for example, secured to the members 24 by the latter being threadedthrough alternate meshes about 2 inches from the margin.

In use, one of the motors 18 or 19 is operated, in the embodimentillustrated the motor 18 is operated, and the elongate member 24 islowered to approximately the level of the bar 14. A patient can beplaced in the bed and can lie on the net material. The motor 18 is thenoperated in the reverse sense and this causes lifting of the bar. Thepatient will get to a position where he is completely suspended in thenet 26 in a manner similar to a hammock. In order to ensure more comfortone or more underblankets may be provided in the central portion of thenet and a sheet and pillow if desired. When it is decided to turn thepatient, the motor is operated thus causing a further lifting orlowering of one or both of the members 24. If the member 24 illustratedon the right in the drawing is lifted. then the web material will moveunder the patient from left to right as viewed in the drawing. This willcause the patient to tilt towards the other side thus giving a turningmovement. A control switch for the motors can be positioned to enablethe patient to control the movement himself.

Instead of having the motors, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3,the shafts 20 are provided with a ratchet wheel 27 keyed or otherwisesecured to the shaft and this can be caused to rotate by a lever arm 28provided with a pawl (not shown). A suitable braking arrangement canalso be associated with the handle 28. Thus reciprocation, in the mannerof the movement of a pendulum, of the lever arm 28 will cause rotationof the shaft 20 to raise the associated elongate element 24. The patientcan therefore lift himself. When he decides he wishes the bar to belowered he can gently release the brake allowing his weight to unwindthe cord from the shaft 20.

In the construction illustrated in FIG. 3 in a schematic manner, theshaft 20 is driven by means of a pinion 29 secured thereon and in turnis driven by a worm 30 having a pulley 31 with a cord 32 therearound.This cord may be a continuous cord and is preferably of the bead cordtype, the bead fittingin recesses in the pulley 31. Again pulling of thecord in the appropriate direction by the patient himself can causeraising or lowering. The advantage of using the worm is that it itselfacts as a brake and the patient can simply operate the mechanism in oneway or the other. Furthermore, if desired the worm and pinion can beused in cooperation with the motors l8 and 19 rather than having adirect drive or a reduction gear drive to the shaft 20, the worm andpinion preventing undesired rotation of the shaft.

Referring to FIGS. 4, and 6, a conventional hospital bed is shown havinglegs 40, cross-members 41 and longitudinal members 42, the bed fittedwith a support arrangement 43 at its foot and with a further supportarrangement 44 at its head. The arrangement at the foot includesuprights 45 having a cross bar 47, the uprights having a double bend sothat they are wider at the top than the bottom. The uprights 45 fit intoa false leg 53 in the form of a tube which is held in place by aninverted U-shaped wire support hook bolted through the false leg andhooked around the leg of the bed. The cross-bar of the support 43 hastwo upwardly projecting bearing assemblies 49, one towards each side ofthe bed. Two pairs of rollers 50, 51 the roller 51 being higher than theroller 50, are mounted on the crossbars 47 and on these bearingassemblies 49 respectively.

In each instance, the upright support members 45 are rotatable abouttheir own axis and then can be clamped to the cross-bar 47, to adapt thesupport 43 to a particular bed.

A similar arrangement is provided for the support 44 except that here,instead of fitting into the false legs, the foot of the substantiallyvertical support members 52 are in fact engaged in sockets normally usedfor the head of the bed. Again a cross-bar 55 is provided, thisconsisting of two spaced apart strips bolted together to ensure that theuprights 52 are in the correct positions for the particular bed. The toppair of strips forming the cross-bar 25 have therebetween an arcuatepiece of metal effectively forming a recess 56, one adjacent each end ofthe cross-bar 55. This provides a support for a nylon bearing 57, whichis also illustrated in FIG. 5, to which is secured a tubular elongatemember 58. The other end of the tubular elongate member 58 is fixedbetween the pulleys and 51, so that the two members 58 extendsubstantially parallel to one another.

As illustrated in more detail in FIGS. 5 and 6, the elongate members arein the form of tubes having diametrally extending pins 59 welded at 60to the outer surface of the elongate member 58 and projectingapproximately one eighth of an inch beyond the opposite sides. The pinsare spaced apart in a straight line at about one and a half inchintervals. Along the length of the elongate member are disposed a numberof hoops, preferably four hoops, 61 which are secured as illustrated inFIG. 6. An arcuate member in the form of a gutter shaped clamping bar 62extends along the bar a distance slightly greater than the distancebetween the nearest edges of two adjacent hoops. The spacing of thehoops is such that all the members 62 can be of the same length.

A nylon net 63 similar to that used in FIG. 1 is held in place byhookingover the projecting portions of the pin 59 and by the clamping barsbeing bowed and slipped under the hoops 61 before springing back intoposition.

At the ends adjacent the rollers 50, 51, i.e., at the foot end of thebed, a handle is provided on each elongate member, this handle includingtwo spaced apart strips pivoted about a pivot pin 71 perpendicular tothe axis of the elongate member 58. Parallel to the elongate members 58,and at the other end of the strip 71, are handle grips 72 similar to aconventional car starting handle. The upper cross-bar 47 is providedwith two lugs 73 each having an upturned end portion, so positioned asto be able to engage the strips 70 and the latter are in a plane passingthrough the pivot 71 and perpendicular to the axis of the elongatemember A marker, e.g. a ribbon, is positioned approximately at thecentre of the net. In this instance the net is approximately 12 feetfrom side to side and 9 feet from head to foot.

Two hooking arrangements 74 are provided one on each leg on each side ofthe bed.

In use, the elongate member 58 illustrated on the right in the drawingis placed on the hook 74 and the patient once again is put onto the bed.The elongate member 58 is then lifted and placed in the positionillustrated. Then, by rotating the two elongate members, by means of ahandle, which are pulled forwardly to clear the lugs, so that theelongate members rotate in opposite directions, the net is wound up tolift the patient clear of the bed mattress. The patient can remain inthis manner until he requires turning. Turning can simply be effected byrotation of the two handles in the same direction which moves the netbeneath the patient in a manner similar to the movement of a conveyorbelt. The patient then is caused to roll or be turned. With thisarrangement it is readily possible to turn the patient completely overfrom one side to the other or from his back onto his face. The markerribbon is provided to ensure that after a number of uses the net isapproximately centrally disposed on the two elongate members. Again,with this construction, the net can be covered with blankets and a sheetand a pillow in the centre.

Although it has not been shown, the rotation of the elongate memberscould again be effected by other means, e.g. by a motor or by a pulleyarrangement which could be operated by the patient himself.

I claim:

1. A bed comprising, in combination:

a. a pair of elongate members;

b. means for mounting said members so that their axes are substantiallyparallel;

c. on each elongate member, a plurality of radially outwardly projectingpins arranged in a line parallel to the axis of the elongate member;

(1. at least one wide mesh web of net material extending between saidmembers and secured thereto, by hooking over said radially outwardlyprojecting pins;

e. hoop portions connected to said elongate members and extendingradially outwardly therefrom along the line of said pins;

f. curved cross section locking bars securable under said hoopseffective to retain the net material in position on said pins;

g. means for rotating said members about their axes;

and

h. means for locking said members against rotation.

2. A bed as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mounting means comprise asubstantially rectangular frame, having end portions and side portions,laterally spaced apart recesses in one end portion, two laterally spacedapart pairs of rollers in the other end portion and a bearing disccarried adjacent one end of said elongate member, said bearing discseach being positionable in one of said recesses and a portion of eachelongate member then resting in contact with the two rollers of a pair,so that the elongate members extend substantially parallel to oneanother.

3. A bed as claimed in claim 2 wherein said end portions each compriselaterally extending strips and four uprights releasably securable inpairs to each pair of strips, the uprights each comprising membershaving a double bend whereby the frame can be adjusted to suit aparticular size of hospital bed.

4. A bed as claimed in claim 2, wherein the means for rotating themembers comprise a handle pivotally mounted about an axis perpendicularto the axis of the associated elongate member adjacent to the other endof each member.

5. A bed as claimed in claim 4, wherein the locking means comprise lugson said other end portions, engageable by said handle when the latterare in a plane passing through their pivots and substantiallyperpendicular to the axes of the elongate members.

1. A bed comprising, in combination: a. a pair of elongate members; b.means for mounting said members so that their axes are substantiallyparallel; c. on each elongate member, a plurality of radially outwardlyprojecting pins arranged in a line parallel to the axis of the elongatemember; d. at least one wide mesh web of net material extending betweensaid members and secured thereto, by hooking over said radiallyoutwardly projecting pins; e. hoop portions connected to said elongatemembers and extending radially outwardly therefrom along the line ofsaid pins; f. Curved cross section locking bars securable under saidhoops effective to retain the net material in position on said pins; g.means for rotating said members about their axes; and h. means forlocking said members against rotation.
 2. A bed as claimed in claim 1,wherein said mounting means comprise a substantially rectangular frame,having end portions and side portions, laterally spaced apart recessesin one end portion, two laterally spaced apart pairs of rollers in theother end portion and a bearing disc carried adjacent one end of saidelongate member, said bearing discs each being positionable in one ofsaid recesses and a portion of each elongate member then resting incontact with the two rollers of a pair, so that the elongate membersextend substantially parallel to one another.
 3. A bed as claimed inclaim 2 wherein said end portions each comprise laterally extendingstrips and four uprights releasably securable in pairs to each pair ofstrips, the uprights each comprising members having a double bendwhereby the frame can be adjusted to suit a particular size of hospitalbed.
 4. A bed as claimed in claim 2, wherein the means for rotating themembers comprise a handle pivotally mounted about an axis perpendicularto the axis of the associated elongate member adjacent to the other endof each member.
 5. A bed as claimed in claim 4, wherein the lockingmeans comprise lugs on said other end portions, engageable by saidhandle when the latter are in a plane passing through their pivots andsubstantially perpendicular to the axes of the elongate members.